'Major operational improvement' at CTCT

The Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) continues to improve its efficiency levels while it is handling more TEUs than ever before. Addressing the Port Liaison Forum (PLF), an initiative of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, representatives from Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) last week said while the port still faced major downtime due to wind problems it was seeing a major improvement in operational efficiency while more containers were being handled than ever before. Figures for the end of February 2014 showed the port had handled a total of 827 881 TEUs – the highest since 2009 when it was handling 766 127. Last year a total of 793 924 TEUs were handled by CTCT. The total number of TEUs for the 2013/14 financial year would be higher as the figures for March had not been incorporated into the calculations. At the same time the port’s efficiency had improved dramatically – a fact the PLF agreed with. “In February we averaged 33 crane moves per hour against a target of 32 while the average vessel turnaround time was 18.2 hours against a target of 30 hours,” said a TNPA spokesman. PLF chairman, Mike Walwyn, commended the port, saying it had come to the party engaging with stakeholders and customers to address some of the big concerns. “We still have delays at the port due to wind, but the improvement is there for all to see,” he said. The port during February also averaged a truck turnaround time of about 21 minutes against its target of 35 minutes, while its berth occupancy was 71%. This was all achieved during an extremely windy month, said the spokesman. “Wind was a major challenge during February and the port was wind bound several times,” he said. Asked how the port was comparing with previous years Transnet officials told the PLF they were seeing improvements. In the 2009/10 financial year 34 days were lost due to wind, while it was 40 days during 2010/11. “The worst year to date was 2012/13 when the port was wind bound for 58 days in total. In 2013/14 we lost 36 days due to wind.” CAPTION Cape Town Container Terminal … 'coming to the party'.